Appearance Vs. Reality In Macbeth

As Act 3 commences, Banquo and Macbeth discuss the accuracy of the witches’ predictions, but Banquo proceeds to show suspicion of Macbeth. Macbeth expresses his fear of losing his crown shortly after through the use of metaphorical language. He begins by stating that “Our fears in Banquo/Stick deep” (50-51), portraying the idea that Macbeth has little trust in Banquo and believes that his crown is in jeopardy because of him. His feelings of mistrust develop as he states that the “dauntless temper of Banquo’s [his] mind” (54) has prevented Macbeth from having faith in him. In addition to Banquo’s courageous spirit, his sons lie in wait for the thrown, resulting in rage and panic overcoming Macbeth.

The vile witches manage to cultivate the subconscious desire to be king in Macbeth. Then, when Macbeth seeks the witches, they further equivocate, orchestrating his downfall by misleading him. The author also depicts Malcolm using equivocation to deceive MacDuff into revealing his true personality, helping him develop a valuable alliance to defeat Macbeth. From these instances of deception in Macbeth, Shakespeare shows equivocation as a weapon. Equivocation is a weapon that grants significant power over a situation to its caster by enabling them to reveal the true intentions of the victim and manipulate their action with the results depending on the intent of the equivocator.

Macbeth appears to be a great man but really he will become a murderous and cruel man. To show such evidence of this fate Macbeth says, “He’s here in double trust: first, as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed: then, as his host, who should against his murder shut the door, not bear the knife myself.” (I,vii,12-16). With the Witches prophecy of

Without the use of paradox throughout the play, the play would not make any sense at all. Near the beginning of the play, there are three witches who tell Macbeth of a prophesy to become King of Scotland, in which the witches chant, “fair is foul and foul is fair” to foreshadow the entirety of what lies ahead (I, i, 10-11). The phrase signifies that what lies ahead is fair and foul, however good is bad and bad is good. This truly gets its meaning when Macbeth kills King Duncan. He kills Duncan, and completes a foul act.

In the play Macbeth, the Witches play a bigger role than one might expect. The Witches are temptations of evil and with the Witches’ mischief prey upon Macbeth’s ambition like puppeteers. The Witches give Macbeth numerous prophecies that are told to provoke Macbeth towards his doom. The prophecies give Macbeth thoughts of treason against the King, tells Macbeth to secure the kingdom from Banquo’s descendants, and give Macbeth the false courage that leads him to think he was invincible. If the Witches’ prophecies did not guide Macbeth, his life would not have led to tragedy.

With such dual and conflicting natures this ultimately breaks Macbeth until the facade that he put on begins to crack and fall away, showing the face of the “true villain”. Although we are not introduced to Macbeth until Act I Scene 3, there is some information revealed about him beforehand. The otherworldly witches that kick off the production set a surreal tone to the entire play opening the universe to the supernatural, speaking in their double language, and saying that famous line “Fair is foul and foul is fair”[1] sets the course for a major theme that appears throughout the play. But in relation to all of this they mention Macbeth and how

Reasons why fate is a factor to the play and how shakespeare uses fate as a strategy to create s havoc and dreadful story for the reader, is by having the three witches tell macbeth his suppose fate. This is important because if Macbeth doesn’t know he is to be “ Thane of Glamis!... Thane of Cawdor!” (I, iii, 355 ) like the witches say then Macbeth wouldn’t even dare to harm the king without reasons. But analysing the quote he is fated to be the next king which Macbeth believe his fate and at the same time struggle to even through away his loyalty to Duncan so he can be the next ruler. Another example of fate being seen in the play is when Macbeth made a decision to kill Banquo, which to Macbeth is a loyal friend who he have trusted for a long time.

One way Shakespeare explores appearance and reality is through MacBeth's early thoughts with the witches prophecies. In an aside MacBeth says, “My thought, whose murder yet is fantastical” but then carries on to say to Banquo, “If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me without my stir.” This shows that though MacBeth is thinking about killing Duncan, it is not what he says to Banquo. The reality of his thoughts are very different to what he shows other people. In the first quote, the caesura breaks up the sentence giving it a jittery and excited feel. Whereas what he says to Banquo is calm and thought out.

Shakespeare uses symbolisms so that the reader may gain a deeper understanding and aware of this tragedy. There are many different prominent symbols which are related to the actions of Macbeth throughout the play. Some of the symbols in Shakespeare’s Macbeth are hallucinations, terrifying dreams, prophecies, sleep, etc. The supernatural events, forces and powers are common symbolical motifs in Shakespeare’s play. The witches are just one

He’s guilty for his wife’s plan in the first place, but he tries to think his way out of it; but he goes with it. Appearance versus reality is also seen at the beginning of the play when the witches introduce the quotation, “fair is foul, and foul is fair,” (Act I, Scene I, line 10), or what seems good is really bad. Macbeth seen it as what seems bad is really good. Malcolm flees to Scotland when his father dies and looks guilty, but he is only trying to protect himself. King Duncan says in Act I, Scene IV, lines 12-13 “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face: He was a gentleman on whom I built, an absolute trust,”.